Interview With Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli In Heroes)

Power: Flying

How do you feel about Nathan? There seems to be some underlying ambiguity about his character?

It’s close to playing a Richard III-type character but in a modern dimension. All I need is a physical kind of abnormality to befall me, like hump or a limp then I would have a really Shakespearian experience!

I don’t think he is necessarily concerned whether he is good or bad. I do think that there is a dark side that has to be dealt with, but the people who think they are good will probably turn out the other way on this show. It wouldn’t do me any good to speculate as to how I’m going to end up. I think there is both good and bad in this character which is interesting to play. I am as much a fan who is along for the ride as the public are with this character and where he ultimately is going to go.

Would you agree that your character is defined more by his relationships than his superhero power?

Yes, I find these relationship dynamics are more interesting to play than the perceived super power, they have written that very well. The relationships that I share with my mum, with Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), with my wife and with Niki (Ali Larter), all those elements are angling together toward defining who Nathan Petrelli is to himself and his potential constituency.

Ultimately, when you’re in the game of politics and you’re a man like Nathan Petrelli, there is only one seat that you want and that’s behind a desk in the Oval Office.

As we take this journey, we may find ourselves in the White House and that should make these relationships even more interesting.

Were you excited by the prospect of flying in the show?
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Interview With Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura In Heroes)

Power: Can Bend Time And Space

Can you tell us a little bit about your character and what his powers are?

My character is Hiro Nakamura. He’s an office drone in Japan and he’s a big comic book enthusiast. He learns that he can bend time and space, so teleportation and chronokinesis, and he’s just absolutely exhilarated with the fact that he can do this. It’s been his dream all along and he’s so happy that he’s been chosen.

The character is a big sci-fi and comic book fan. Is this a trait which you relate to?

I believe so. I am definitely a big enthusiast of science fiction and special effects. I grew up with Japanese Manga (Japanese comics), so I know a lot about the Manga world.

I really, really love the character and I believe the writers are doing an amazing job writing Hiro and bringing who I am into the character and extending me in terms of being a big comic book enthusiast. “Heroes” is a big extension of who I am.

There is an online graphic novel which goes hand-in-hand with the series. How important is this to the show? How does it feel to see yourself in cartoon form?

I think it’s just absolutely wonderful. When we went to the comic convention, we had a screening of the pilot episode and we knew we had something absolutely special and magical when we saw the fans’ reaction. We knew we hit it right on the head and that we had served the comic book community really well. And you know, in particular with Hiro being the comic book enthusiast as he is, he’s somewhat the representative for that voice of comic book fans. To have him as part of a comic book too is just absolutely thrilling, both in support of the character and for myself.

You worked on special effects before becoming an actor. Do you find yourself looking over people’s shoulders as the effects are produced for the show?
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Daywatch (Dnevnoi Dozor): A Russian Fantasy Horror Epic

Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones

At the heart of Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) are the supernatural creatures of both the Day Watch and the Night Watch who wage a nocturnal war when the city of Moscow is asleep. Director Timur Bekmambetov knew that a key to making his film viscerally and emotionally exciting would be finding actors who could stand clearly on opposite sides of the Good and Evil divide. This took a very special casting process.

Bekmambetov began by separating leading Russian actors into two different groups. “I felt that there are actors who look like actors and there are actors who just look like people. We cast the actors who look like actors as the Dark Ones because they are very cool, very original, interesting and proud. But those actors who look like regular people, they were cast as the Light Ones, the members of the Night Watch. So for example, there is the character of Svetlana, the woman who wherever she goes misfortune happens. To play her we cast Maria Poroshina who to me looks like a normal Russian girl from the street. On the other hand, to play the character Alisa from the Day Watch, we chose an actress, Zhanna Friske, who in real life is a famous Russian pop star.”

Taking advantage of Russia’s highly trained ranks of actors, Bekmembatov also put the emphasis on finding those who could handle not only the film’s intense action but also would probe their characters emotional and psychological worlds. He believes this sets Day Watch apart from other modern horror fantasies. “In American fantasy movies the characters aren’t usually so deep,” he comments. “But here we have access to Russian actors who have a very strong schooling in Stanislavsky. So, because of that, we could bring to the fantasy genre very deep characters and very complicated relationships and a lot of complexity of story through the performances.”

Bekmambetov cast Konstantin Khabensky, one of Russia’s most popular actors, in the lead role of Anton Gorodetsky, one of the premier Protectors of Light as a member of the Night Watch. Bekmambatov found Khabensky a perfect match for the wide-ranging role of Anton. “Konstantin is a very good dramatic actor but at the same time he has the skills of a character actor,” says Bekmambetov. “He’s like a clown, he can play funny, he can play extravagant, and it’s a good combination, because to bring the Russian audience into this world of creatures I needed an actor who would be entirely believable.”

As Boris Geser, businessman by day, leader of the Night Watch by night, Bekmambetov cast Vladimir Menshov, the star of the Oscar®-winning film Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears and a multi-talented actor, writer and director. The head of the Protectors of Light for centuries, Geser is both a father figure and a figurehead of all that is good. He is instrumental in saving his comrade Anton from a near-fatal encounter with the Warriors of Darkness.

“Boris is one of the few Russian directors to have won an Oscar, and he is a very Russian person,” notes Bekmambetov. “His image to Russian audiences is like that of political party chief or bureaucrat – so I thought he would be an interesting and a funny person to represent the leader of the Light forces.”

In contrast, as Zavulon, leader of the Day Watch, Bekmambetov called upon Victor Verzhbitskiy, a friend from art school, who appeared in both The Peshavar Waltz and Gladiatrix. A master of all that is evil and dark, Zavulon rules over the Day Watch. Though the Warriors of Darkness have maintained balance with the Protectors of Light, the vampires and shape shifters that make up the Day Watch are desperate to command the soul of the Great One – which will shift the balance of power in their favor.

Filling out the cast are a combination of Russian theatre and film actors, including Galina Tyunina as the Sorceress Olga, Aleksey Chadov as Kostya the young vampire and Valeriy Zolotukhin as Kostya’s father.

All Posts For NightWatch (Interviews, images, trailers).
Part 1: NightWatch To DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor) Introduction
Part 2: Inside The Film’s Origin: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Part 3: Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Exclusive Clip: The Chalk

Trivia for Ghost Rider Film (2007)

Jon Voight was attached to the project at one point but dropped out.

Nicolas Cage had to have his Ghost Rider tattoo covered with make-up in order to play Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider).

A large group of on-lookers converged on a bridge in Melbourne to watch scenes being filmed in a nearby location. Over the four days of filming at this location, the crowds grew so large that traffic was often disrupted and public transport operators reported an unusual jump in passenger traffic to the area.

Some scenes were filmed near Flinders St Station, the busiest railway station in Melbourne. Parts of the station were closed for filming, as well as minor alterations to train services being made.

Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece required three hours to apply every day.

To create the Ghost Rider’s voice, sound designer Don Davis recorded all of Nicolas Cage’s lines as the Ghost Rider, and then filtered them through three different kinds of animal growls (played backwards, covering three separate frequencies) and then played them through a mechanical volumizer, before finally giving them a fiery crackle. Director Mark Steven Johnson compared it to “a deep, demonic, mechanical lion’s roar” and says that “one thing is for sure, his voice will shake the theatre!”
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Interview With Ali Larter (Niki Sanders In Heroes)

Power: Has A Protective Alter Ego

What were your first thoughts on your character when you first came across the part?

When I read the pilot I didn’t actually know what direction it was going other than the fact that you’ve got a really complicated woman who’s just trying to get by. She’s trying to be a great mother to her son and her world’s really crumbling around her. So, it wasn’t about what kind of power she was getting, it was just about her dealing with her life and wondering if she’s going crazy and what’s happening to her.

Where we’re leading to is that there’s going to be duality within my personality. So there’s one side that has to conform to society’s roles and laws and the shadow side that can actually live out the dark fantasies that, you know, are repressed within all of us.

But we’re going to get a little romance, we’ll get a little bit of cheekiness in it and the amazing thing about this writing is that it really pushes me.

You have a son in the show, how did you find it playing a mother?

Noah’s incredible. He makes my job easy. Watching his relationship with his mother has been a huge inspiration for me. She’s so open and so giving, we discussed the scenes before and hang out whenever we have a chance. They have an incredible connection. Noah and I use as much as we can from that to inspire us within our roles.

I think that as a woman, there’s a side in all of us that really has this desire and this need to protect a child. Watching my nephews there’s definitely that side within me that would do anything to protect them. So I guess I understand that.

I’ve just been around kids my whole life. So it really hasn’t been a struggle for me at all. It’s been a natural transition and I just think it’s a really interesting unique relationship.

Your character has an inherent sexuality, do you think it is important to stay in shape? How uncomfortable are the more risqué scenes?
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Interview With Greg Grunberg (Matt In Heroes)

Power: Can Read People’s Minds

Can you tell us about your character Matt?

He’s an LAPD cop, he’s got dyslexia, he can’t advance and become what he really thinks he should be, which is a detective or something more important, be where the action is. He can’t do this because he has dyslexia and can’t pass the tests and now suddenly, he’s hearing voices. He gets the one ability that a cop needs to solve crimes as quickly as possible and be the best he can be. But this then changes the rest of his life.

Your character can read minds, how does he feel about keeping his mental powers a secret?

It’s going to be a constant struggle for my character. He’s having issues with his wife. They’ve not been at each other’s throat, but there’s a conversation they always have where she says, “Hey, why can’t you be satisfied with our lives?” And he wants more.

What I love is that it’s not as simple as telling people, “Hey, this is what’s happened.” People aren’t going to believe you, they’re going to think you’re nuts, how do you handle it. When my character first realizes that he can’t control it, it’s an amazing thing.

The scripts are so great. When I read them, I get an idea of what a cool idea it would be to read people’s minds. I’m like, “Oh, this would be great.” It’s on such a simple level, I read and it’s just like, “Wow, that’s the greatest way to use it.” I’ve already shot a little bit where I’m using it to satisfy my wife.

What does the future hold for the characters? Do they become a team of superheroes?
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Marg Helgenberger Talks About CSI 6 And Her Role As Catherine Willows

Following on from the information on the CSI 6 DVD release, Marg Helgenberger gives us the lowdown on the show, amongst other things.

Do you feel proud when people tell you they are big fans of the show?
I always love it when people say (assumes self-important mock voice) “it’s the only one we watch, none of them can compare to you guys, blah blah blah”.

We see a different side of you in Season 6 than we saw in Season 4. What do you think about that?
Oh yeah, well I think that’s how they, not run out of things to do, not that they’ve run out of crimes to solve because god knows there’s plenty of them around, or run out of ways to solve it, there seems to always come up with more techniques and instruments that are being made available. Of course, this show being state of the art in terms of what we receive and what’s out there in terms of forensic labs because it’s so costly that many of them don’t have the resources to have these, which is too bad, it’s really sad because crimes could get solved faster if they had the money. As far as the character development goes there’s a deep pool there, every character, mine probably more than anybody’s, we go home with my character more. I think there’s a well of opportunity there for the characters.

Do you get excited about character driven stories?
I do get a little spring in my step when it’s some character stuff because it involves usually a lot of history with that particular character, especially with a family member or a romantic interest, but she’s a family member because my father’s been on a few times and that stuff’s, it’s such a complicated relationship and in as little as six lines there’s a lot that goes on between the two of us: threats, weird stuff that happens and I always look forward to that and to working with Scott Wilson who plays my dad.

How do you feel about being demoted this season?
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28 Weeks Later

“Warning! Maintain the quarantine. Deadly force will be used to protect this area.”

This article contains background information on 28 Weeks Later, including Cast, Crew and production notes, and interviews with Robert Carlyle, Danny Boyle (Executive Producer), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Director) and a whole host of other people involved in the project.

Play 28 Weeks Later: Infected online game!

Synopsis

28 Weeks Later, the follow up to the hugely successful 28 Days Later, picks up six months after the rage virus has annihilated the Mainland Britain. The US army declares that the war against infection has been won, and that the reconstruction of the country can begin. As the first wave of refugees return, a family is reunited - but one of them unwittingly carries a terrible secret. The virus is not yet dead, and this time, it is more dangerous than ever.

How It All Started

28 Weeks Later is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) and produced by Enrique López-Lavigne, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. 28 Weeks Later is an original screenplay by Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique López-Lavigne, and Jesus Olmo; with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland serving as executive producers. The cast is led by Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting); Rose Byrne (Sunshine, Troy); Jeremy Renner (The Assassination of Jesse James, Dahmer); Harold Perrineau (The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, Lost); Catherine McCormack (Braveheart, Spy Game); Imogen Poots (V For Vendetta) and Idris Elba (The Wire). Also joining the cast is a talented young newcomer, twelve year old Mackintosh Muggleton making his feature film debut.

Four years after the enormous international success of 28 Days Later, the director/producer/writer team of Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland felt the time was right to make a sequel. “We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America,” recalls producer Andrew Macdonald. “We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again. The hard bit was to try and find a story which would live up to the power and depth that Danny and Alex brought to the first film.”

The first decision the filmmakers had to make was when should the sequel be set. Should the film involve the original cast? Should it go further into the future? Should it be a prequel? 28 Days Later told the story of when the virus was first unleashed following a raid on a primate research facility by animal rights activists. Transmittable in a single drop of blood, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country was overwhelmed and a handful of survivors desperately struggled to salvage a future.

“Alex came up with a lot of ideas and eventually we agreed upon a concept about what would happen to the UK after the disease had been eradicated and the quarantine was lifted,” explains Macdonald. “What would happen if there were only 500 people populating the UK? Who would be there to organize the survivors and refugees coming back from overseas, and what would happen to the Brits who survived? All those questions seemed interesting to us and it was out of them that the story evolved”.

Screenwriter Rowan Joffe, who had previously written Gas Attack and Last Resort, was hired to craft a first draft of the script. The search then began for a talented young director who would have the flare to follow in Boyle’s footsteps as well as be able to bring a fresh new perspective and their own unique vision to the film. “We were looking for a filmmaker of some individuality who could bring something different to the film,” says Boyle. “London was such a big part of the first film we thought that getting somebody from outside the UK to come in and direct would be an interesting approach as they would give the Capital a fresh look.”

Boyle had recently seen the provocative thriller Intacto, the feature film debut from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo which had been a huge international and critical success. “I thought Intacto was amazing,” recalls Boyle. “A terrific thriller with tremendous flare and energy, as well as being a highly individual piece of filmmaking. I recommended [Producer] Andrew Macdonald and [Executive Producer] Alex Garland go and see it with Juan Carlos in mind for taking the helm on 28 Weeks Later.”

After seeing Intacto Macdonald and Garland were also convinced that Fresnadillo was the director they were looking for, and the filmmakers approached him to direct 28 Weeks Later.

They were thrilled when Fresnadillo and his Spanish producing partner Enrique López-Lavigne agreed to come on board. Producer Allon Reich explains, “Juan Carlos and López-Lavigne, they’re a fantastic double act. Juan Carlos is very thoughtful, very much about the detail… While Enrique is a ball of energy, a film geek, and he’s seen every film of this type. And I think there’s definitely a yin and yang in their energy, and the way they approach life that leads to a very kind of a creative whole.”

Fresnadillo recalls being approached by DNA, “I’m a big fan of 28 Days Later. It was such a big honor to receive the invitation to direct the second film, but at the same time it was something really scary. I didn’t understand what I could do, you know, to improve on the first one or to follow that landscape. But DNA chased me for one or two months… And from the first time we met I was very comfortable with them, because they were open to my ideas.”

Fresnadillo and López-Lavigne began working on the script with the help of Spanish screenwriter Jesus Olmo, developing the story around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film.

López-Lavigne explains, “The family was a good idea for us, and we wanted to develop this into something. But there is always a problem with this kind of structure in which you are looking at the new world through four different eyes, instead of one. That’s why we had to find a really strong concept for the actual storyline. And what we came up with is a storyline, that we really believe; it’s about the idea that no one is unaffected from his past.”

Fresnadillo tells about the process of writing the script, “We worked on the screenplay for almost one year, and at the end we reached a screenplay that I really love. But I was concerned about if the producers were going to like it because it was very special and different from the first one. Obviously following the same landscape and the same situation about this apocalyptic vision of the world, but to my surprise they liked it a lot.”

Boyle elaborates on working with Fresnadillo, “He’s got one foot in two cultures, so he was an interesting guy to get, you know, rather than just get another Brit who probably would [have made] it much as I’d made the first one. So you need a kind of different eye on it, really. And there’s a great tradition at the moment in our cinema of Latin American and Spanish directors, and it’s, I think, great to be able to be part of it.”

Stop The Press !
Breaking, Important, World Shattering, Consciencious Newsflash Alert!

UNLEASHED

I don’t really watch trash like Celebrity Big Brother (UK - Channel 4) on purpose, honest. It’s just it was on when they had the opening ceremonies, and I found myself erm.. watching.

So, who should appear but Dirk Gently Dirk Benedict, Starbuck from the A-Team original Battlestar Galactica. Each contestant who enter the house each get to take a bag in with them, probably containing items like toiletries, underwear and other such essentials.

It appeared to me that Dirk’s bag was loaded to the brim with about 2,500 large cigars and nothing much else.

I won’t will watch it much a lot for its entertainment educational value.

If you see someone stealthily entering the house under cover of darkness, dressed in black, wearing a ‘Battlestar Galactica Rocks!’ t-shirt, with pen and paper in hand, then rest assured it won’t be me after an interview…

[Additional news: There’s a rumour about a Cylon…
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GET A. HEAD AND DESTROY ALL HUMANS! ®

THQ (UK) announces Anthony Head as lead voice over for Destroy All Humans! 2

Woking, Surrey – 6th September 2006 – THQ (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of THQ Inc., today announces Anthony Head as lead voice over in the upcoming Destroy All Humans! ® 2 expected to be released in Fall 2006 for Xbox® video and game entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.

Anthony Head voices Ponsonby, a well coiffed human and head of MI5, who is introduced to help the lead aliens, Crypto and POX, fight against the KGB. However, as the game progresses, Ponsonby is not necessarily who he appears to be. With the unexpected twists and turns, it appears that no human can be trusted. To succeed, players should remember to live by the motto, “Make War Not Love.”
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Cabbages From Inkyfingers Theatre Company
Reviewed By Roy Gray
Photos by Ruth Tuck ©2006

The Geeks of Yesteryear

Who were the geeks of the 1950s? For Lawrence Ghorra and Mark Winstanley, writers of Cabbages which ran from 14th-18th February 2006 at Manchester’s Contact Theatre they were the librarians.

This is horror in the asylum as Dr Spinoza, the self-proclaimed genius psychiatrist in charge of Ravenscroft Mental Asylum, decides librarians are the key to world domination. They hold the world’s knowledge and he intends to hold them.

In the park outside that institution two librarians Geoffrey Ramsbottom, a cliché naive trainee, and his fully qualified co-worker, Audrey, are courting. Audrey suddenly disappears in the midst of declaring her admiration for Geoff’s “natural flair for the Dewey System”. One act later two detectives are accusing Geoffrey of murder. His denials are worthless because he can’t remember what did happen. So what’s to do but ship him to Ravenscroft. Will he find Audrey? Can a librarian’s innate knowledge of Dewey Classification Numbers help resist the evil machinations of the megalomaniac Dr Spinoza? At first it seems so but Dr Spinoza has reserved at least one further horrible assault on the mind of the librarian, picture books!
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Related Link: London theatre tickets are available now for all west end productions.

Various SciFi Authors Interviewed

I just thought I’d mention that we’ve interviewed a few ‘celebrities’ in the Science Fiction and Fantasy area.

See all interviews here.

The most recent being (in no particular order):
Philip K. Dick (imagined)
Christopher Priest
Greg Bear
Gareth Lyn Powell
Closet Sci-Fi Geek (Stephanie Brail)
Trudi Canavan
Gerald Libonati
The Prey Producers
Mark Davis at Retro-Juice

Episode One Of Night is Day Is ‘In The Can’ (But That’s Only The Beginning.)

Here’s the lowdown straight from the Fraser himself:

Okay, I’m fairly knackered as I was up til 2 in the morning editing last night’s footage but by god does it look funky! Yesterday we started filming around 4pm and we filmed all of the interior shots between Amy and Jason and we also filmed the last scene of episode 2 while we there. It’s supposed to be a funny scene and Chris and Shian played it perfectly.

Everybody worked really hard during the flat scenes and that was great. It’s really good working with Craig Snedden on lighting again as the guy just knows what he is doing, and James is a master of makeup. You’ll see the pics soon! (See below).

Joe took a LOT of photos so we’ll get them uploaded as soon as we can. (See below).

Kim and Neil kept me organised and kept everybody running as well as filming behind the scenes footage.

Mark and Doug did their usual great job on sound and Jacki made sure that the set looked exactly how we needed it.

Chris and Shian worked fantastically together, they really play well off of each other.

Iain and I have a good working relationship when it comes to working on shots, he’s a delight to work with.

Preparing The Shot : Fraser, Mark And Iain Set Up The Shot
Where Jason Starts To Get His Powers.

We wrapped at around 9pm after filming in a particular dark underpass in Milgavnie. It’s a really quick scene at the start of the episode to introduce the world to what it is Jason does…kinda. Don’t want to give it all away in the first episode :p

So today we’re filming the second half of the episode and I have in fact just wrote in an extra scene so I’m hoping we’ll have time to fit it in.

More Jason heroics today and a bit more drama too. Oooh, I do like my sci-fi drama.

[Time passes slowly…]

Jason And Amy : Shian Denovan (Amy) and Chris Sommerville (Jason) In An Underpass
In Bearsden On The First Night Of Filming Episode One.

Well that’s every scene shot for episode one so now comes the even more fun part of sitting down and taking all of the footage from today from the camera and trying to make some sort of sense of it all…crazy.

Once it’s edited together, myself, Kim and Neil will watch it and make comments and then go back and change things until we’re all happy, and then we’ll send the video to Mark who will do the sound work on it, sound effects, cleaning up sound etc, and then it will go to Steve Dunster who will score the episode and THEN it goes to David, who will then add in our visual effects and make it look mean and expensive.